Two long-standing projects get green light at City Council

Wednesday

Mar 27, 2013 at 4:43 PMMar 27, 2013 at 4:48 PM

Since 2006 there have been two projects in the works in the city of Milford.

One was the development of a subdivision known as the Wickersham, located in the area of the intersection of Cedar Creek Road and Coastal Highway. The other was the city’s plan to build a water tower and water treatment facility in that area of the municipality, in order to improve water pressure and offer treatment closer to that end of town.

Sarah Barbansarah.barban@doverpost.comTwitter: @SarahDoverPost

Since 2006 there have been two projects in the works in the city of Milford.

One was the development of a subdivision known as the Wickersham, located in the area of the intersection of Cedar Creek Road and Coastal Highway. The other was the city’s plan to build a water tower and water treatment facility in that area of the municipality, in order to improve water pressure and offer treatment closer to that end of town.

The projects have become closely intertwined as of late.

According to City Manager Richard Carmean, the subdivision was being held up because the county would not re-record it as a subdivision, unless the developers could prove that the city would be able to provide the property with utilities. The subdivision has had to apply for five extensions to complete their preliminary subdivision plan.

Carmean also said that the city couldn’t prove that they would be able to provide utilities unless they were able to get the water treatment facility and a water tower in that area. It was undeniably a dog chasing it’s own tail sort of issue. That’s when both parties decided to come to a mutually beneficial agreement.

Earlier this year, the developers of the subdivision agreed to donate a three-acre portion of their 43-acre tract of land so that the city could build a water treatment facility and a water tower on the property. This then allowed the city to ensure that they could in fact provide the area with utilities.

“We sat down with them and they of course needed utilities and so they cooperated so we could build the facility to give them service. They could never have built without utilities and we couldn’t have built without land,” Carmean said.

At the Monday’s City Council meeting both of these projects were moved forward. City Council unanimously adopted a resolution to accept a $5 million USDA loan, which will be used to fund the building of the water tower and water treatment facility.

According to Carmean the city has had the loan documents for years, they were just waiting for the land, right of ways and easements before they signed off on it.

“We received a letter for the USDA telling us that if we didn’t get something started on this they were going to rescind the loan application,” Carmean said. “So this is good news. We’ve spent some money so now they’ll let us go ahead and close this out.”

Now that the loan has been approved, Carmean estimates that the bidding process for the facilities will begin in late spring or early summer. Once the construction of the building and tower begins it should take between 12 and 14 months to complete. However there is the danger that the project will be held up because of an inability to acquire the steel needed for the project.

After approving the resolution to sign the loan, the City Council turned its attention to the subdivision. The council unanimously approved an extension for the Wickersham group, which now has until March 23, 2014 to get their plans approved by the city. That process is finally possible, now that the city can ensure it will be able to deliver the necessary utilities.